A Letter

A Letter

Charlie Earl

This column was published on April 28, 2011. The feedback I received was extensive. Unfortunately, I fear it is more necessary today than it was then.

Dear Officeholder (substitute title and name),

As a citizen I wish to thank you for your willingness to step forward and serve in public office. It must be challenging to voluntarily place oneself under intense scrutiny in order to run for political office. I do take your role as a leader very seriously, so please bear with me as I share with you some of my concerns and criticisms.

When you chose to serve in public office and ran for election, there was an implicit understanding that you would give your very best effort to confront and resolve many of the problems facing us today. One of the basic elements of problem-solving is to stop the problem from becoming worse when attempting to resolve the issue. In my view, you and your colleagues have failed in that regard. Despite all the rhetoric about “directions” and “paths,” our difficulties continue to grow more ominous. High-sounding language and back-room deals do NOT stop the bleeding. Commitment to principle and devotion to YOUR OATH of office will staunch the flow. Our troubles have been caused by two primary factors: political leaders who try to please everyone by overspending and public “servants” who ignore the Constitution of the United States.

When our political leaders maintain fidelity to the Constitution, they do not wander into the thickets of irresponsible spending and denial of individual liberty. Every time a public servant strays outside the constitutional limitations the citizens either lose freedom, money or property. Government does not produce anything of value. Government is merely a redistribution mechanism, and indeed, an inefficient one at that. Our brilliant Founders recognized that for a nation to prosper the people must enjoy the maximum freedom allowable for a civil society. You and your colleagues have either unconsciously or intentionally undermined the beautifully balanced system anticipated and designed by the Framers of our country.

Many people who enter public life want to do “good.” When they drift beyond the parameters of the Constitution, the “good” often becomes chaotic and counter-productive. Your oath, if taken seriously, compels you to OBEY the Constitution…not to forage far and wide while looking for social ills to heal. Government has proven to be an incredibly flawed instrument, and for anyone to assume that government is the best vehicle for correcting deficiencies in the social structure is wishful and delusional thinking.

Perhaps I am wrongly casting you among those who have grossly abused their power and their oaths. If so, I apologize, but I do beseech you to stand firm…to speak loudly and forcefully…to resist EVERY usurpation of our liberties and every violation of the Constitution. Even if you are not actively engaged in the undermining of our Constitutional government, you cannot comply with or ignore those who are. Your sworn duty, before God and the citizens, is to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Meekly allowing others to run roughshod over our freedoms while confiscating our hard-earned wealth without bellowing in protest means that you are failing…failing to do your sworn duty.

If you believe that all the extra-constitutional legislation and regulation is justifiable, or if you accept that some of the unconstitutional governance is acceptable, then do the honorable thing and resign from office. If, however, you share my dismay with the unconscionable perversion of our Constitution, then fight with fury…fight with fervor. The stakes are too high for comity and collegiality to rule the day. When your time on earth has ended, do you want your legacy to be one of a smiling, pleasant public servant who watched the nation crumble? Dear public servant, please climb out of your comfort zone and take the hill. Your constituents need you to defend our liberties and our futures. Do it now.

Finally, (Mr./Ms.)____, are you willing to endorse and actively support legislation that eliminates the officeholder immunity provisions of the law and would make public “servants” legally liable for violation of their oaths or the Constitution? I eagerly await your response. If you do not reply, I must assume that you favor unconstitutional tyranny rather than true public service. Our land of freedom is at stake. It is time for YOU to step forward and FIGHT.

Sincerely,

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com   

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

 www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

    

Debased Line Budgeting

Debased Line Budgeting

Charlie Earl

If you have ever wondered why public employee unions believe themselves entitled to annual raises and salary increases plus step raises, all you have to do is peruse the federal budgeting system. Yes, I know the Congress, namely the Senate, has failed to produce a formal budget in four years despite the constitutional mandate requiring one, but the automatic nature of the baseline budgetary structure insures that federal expenditures will INCREASE every year for every line item that existed in the prior fiscal year. Last year’s allocation becomes the BASELINE with a pre-determined increase for the current year’s spending. The public sector unions know this, and they want “their fair share” of the unending expansion of government’s costs. It is a nice gig if it weren’t so fiscally devastating.

From Citizens Against Government Waste ( http://cagw.org ):

          Baseline budgeting tilts the budget process in favor of increased spending and taxes. For example, if an agency's budget is projected to grow by $100 million, but only grows by $75 million, according to baseline budgeting, that agency sustained a $25 million cut. That is analogous to a person who expects to gain 100 pounds only gaining 75 pounds, and taking credit for losing 25 pounds. The federal government is the only place this absurd logic is employed.

To extend this illogical madness even further… consider that all the stimulus spending from the past has been integrated into the baseline, thus accelerating the unsustainable spending curve. If we were living in the 18^th Century, our political “masters” might be forced to languish in debtors’ prison. Wistfully I yearn for the reinstatement of some lost traditions. If our nation has any tiny glimmer of hope for controlling our excessive spending, massive deficits or suffocating debt, we must jettison irresponsible baseline budgeting.

For all his faults Jimmy Carter pledged to initiate a “zero-based” budgeting process. He failed with the concept just as he did in so many ways. The zero-based system operates with the premise that every budgetary line item begins anew every year. The expenditure must be justified, effective and approved by Congress every year. Unfortunately our federal budget has grown too large with too many line items for Congress to have the sufficient time to sensibly provide oversight. Rather than cope with the merits of the myriad of budget items, Congress makes a leap of faith that all are necessary and worthy thus insuring their continuation and their growth. Congress is either incompetent, lazy or evil … or all of the above.

Baseline budgeting is a cowardly scheme by government officials who are unable or unwilling to do their sworn jobs. It is both a major driver of our fiscal mess and a glaring example of our immoral profligacy. We cannot avoid a catastrophic default unless we eliminate this costly curse from our national scene. Consider that we cannot find 218 House members and 60 Senators who care enough about our nation, its integrity and our future to eliminate this budgetary abomination. How is this possible? Just the knowledge that there aren’t enough sensible souls in Congress to repeal this mortally toxic gimmick should be enough to undermine your faith in the future of our republic. Spending must go down (preferably for only constitutional functions), indebtedness must go down, regulation fever must go down, and the politicians and the citizens must wise up. Baseline budgeting is a honey trap for fools, and we must extricate ourselves before we are inextricably trapped … if we aren’t already. Our people and our political leaders resemble the illegitimate offspring of Winnie the Pooh and Honey Boo Boo. We are in a sticky mess, my friends.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

True Independence

True Independence

Charlie Earl

A constant theme of my writing is the desirability of personal freedom versus government- or collective-mandated subjugation. I’ve often stated that I firmly believe the thirst for personal liberty was implanted into our DNA by Almighty God. He knows, as should we that simple obedience is not enough – fear or the threat of force can secure obedience. Our God wants us to willingly and purposely obey. Our compliance to His will has more value and more legitimacy when we do it voluntarily. Hence individual liberty is a vital component of Biblical theology and Christian-centered political theory. Personal liberty is the cornerstone of each and an absolute starting point for the development of systematic analyses.  

Contrary to an ever-growing belief system freedom from fear or want are not critical components of a systematic philosophy of liberty. The use of state power or force to wrest assets from one individual in order to satisfy the “wants” of another is the antithesis of liberty. It is coercion. True liberty can only be exhibited by forgoing the use of force to achieve one’s goals. The pre-emptive use of force necessarily denies the object the opportunity for expressing her/his/their liberty. When one nation conquers another, the sudden loss of liberty for fallen country is obvious and dramatic. When our liberty is taken or surrendered incrementally, we may fail to express our alarm. The ancient Chinese torturer, Ling chi, favored the method called “death by a thousand cuts.” Each sword prick would not lead to immediate death, but the cumulative effect would lead to a mortal end. So it is with our submitting to the governments’ increasing and unending rules, regulations, laws and assaults on our freedom to choose for our own best interests. Every tiny erosion of our liberty ultimately leads to our enslavement. It doesn’t matter whether or not our freedom is taken from us or if we voluntarily surrender it, the end result is a violation of God’s cosmic principles. Freedom to choose liberty is just as difficult to embrace as is freedom to follow the will of God. Both designs are uplifting, but our carnal, venal natures lead us to take the lower road.

Courage and commitment are required if we seek to staunch our loss of freedom. Cowardice and confusion are the telltale signs of those who are willing to surrender. Courage: the quality of being brave; valor. Courage involves the willingness to withstand public opinion when the common desire is for compromise or appeasement. The courageous ones in the Wilderness did not create the Golden Calf. Undoubtedly there were many Israelites who were uneasy with the clamoring for an idol while Moses was on the Mount, but they flinched and succumbed and the Hebrew Nation defied the will of God. They forfeited their freedom for the fast, the easy, and the short-cut. Consequently they spent many more years circuitously wandering the Sinai lusting for the Promised Land. Nearly 3500 years ago an entire people suffered the consequences of their disobedience and cowardice, and here we are today observing the same type of behavior….plus similar attitudes. Compromising for the idol at hand rather than laboring for the liberty that attends the Truth is a recipe for being trapped in the wilderness and forfeiting the promise of freedom.

Liberty must be cherished, nurtured and advanced at every opportunity, or it will shrivel from neglect. When one forgoes liberty for a short time to take the expedient route, one soon discovers the chosen path does not intersect with freedom’s road. One must climb, scramble and dig cross country toward the original direction and pathway. The effort is infinitely more difficult and less achievable than if one had never strayed. My father used to caution me to “do it right the first time.” The same wisdom holds true for freedom.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com